A personal secession: part three/conclusion

I apologize for the time it took to finish this. I went from family visiting to visiting family, all coupled with some crazy changes in my day job. I sincerely appreciate the patience and understanding of all and Mr. Dupree in particular.

Ever since I’ve been old enough to pay attention to current events this nation of mine has been pretty crazy. But in the last five years it has become unrecognizable. It is disheartening to see it fall so far so fast. That the federal government would so brashly flaunt its disregard for everything that allowed this nation to so utterly change the fate of mankind. That so many of our fellow countrymen, whether they realize it or not and it’s even worse that a sizeable proportion of them apparently do, are clamoring for a return to a system of rulership rather than representation.

Although I was still young, I remember when the Clinton/Lewinsky saga was playing out. How much airtime it dominated and how important it was in terms of the integrity of the president. Then with Bush it really came down to three things that lingered in memory. The WMD allegations leading up to war, hurricane Katrina, and the sub-prime meltdown followed by the 2008 recession and TARP. These were the days of Olbermann loudly proclaiming the president to be a fascist. His lesser known exploits included expanding Medicare, No Child Left Behind, and going for an amnesty bill. He handily spent more money than any president before him. Before, but certainly not after. At least I feel like I can read off the highlight reel of reasons he shouldn’t have been in the nation’s highest office with only one lobe of my brain exploding.

In what was almost his first act in office, Obama spent just about trillion on a stimulus bill with the stroke of a pen. Money we already didn’t have, and nothing at all to show for it. After that it was Progressive-care (what I call it because I believe it’s important to hang it on the neck of an entire political philosophy and not just one man at one time. It might colloquially bear his name but it was the dream of all big government believers for decades). Boy, if that hasn’t been the gift that keeps on giving. Fast and Furious came to light a year later. Hey, let’s give dangerous cartels American weapons to demonstrate the danger of said weapons. Benghazi just prior to the election. The fact that he was reelected and by a good margin demonstrates either that voter fraud is a more serious problem than the media would have you believe, or that Americans’ ability to only care about the most irrelevant points can never overestimated. Or both. The Associated Press, IRS, NSA, the Justice Department’s selective law enforcement. The release of thousands of violent, illegal alien criminal offenders and the VA. Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Egypt. The unchecked return of a soviet era Russia. Is your head spinning yet?

I’d like to place the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of President Obama. Alas, that is not the answer. This has been a century in the making. The left loves to portray criticisms of the president as veiled racism. The truth, however, is that the only significance of the president’s skin color is that it made him the ideal Trojan horse to bring so many well laid, decades-long, plans to fruition. Countless agents swept in under the curtain of “Hope and Change”, Obama’s “Mission Accomplished”, into positions of frightening power; without accountability to voters while the celebrity commander in chief ran interference. They were confident that all attention, good or bad, would remain primarily focused on a president that couldn’t be attacked without accruing collateral damage and a compliant (or complicent) media would maintain focus on flippant issues. This made a safeguard for these agents of change to undermine and dismantle constitutional law.

Read any given article from the New York Times or the Washington Post or any other major news publication meant to spur questions and debate on a political issue and the “truths”, i.e. positions on issues that are simply given and not up for debate, they take for granted are far more telling than anything the article is actually reporting. It’s as if overnight the bulk of Americans just accepted that contending with an everpresent federal government on virtually every facet of your life on a daily basis was a forgone conclusion. Even if progressives respected us and regarded us as equal citizens, which they don’t, how do you come to a fair compromise or conclusion when you disagree on the very premise on which the discussion is framed?

All this would be sufficiently aggravating if there was a shelter from the fallout. Unfortunately, the US is the world’s shelter from obtrusive government. Better still would be to have a stanch and powerful guardian of personal liberties firmly entrenched in an effective position. That brings us to the republicans. For every one I like there are ten that the only thing they’d change in Washington are the names. The GOP at large is home to avowed progressives and has affirmed their commitment to big government. Federal growth has not faced so much as a noteworthy challenge since the 1920’s, regardless of the political party in power. My analogy of choice for the progressive plan is a socket wrench. Constitutional law is a bolt keeping the mechanism they wish to dismantle and reassemble into something else together. The wrench swings left, then back to the right, both motions are required to unscrew the bolt. At least, that is, until you get close to the end. But I believe Carroll Quigley said it best.

Apologies for the rant. I didn’t dig all this up without cause, though. I believe it relative to my point.

In the first installment I urged people to cease commenting on websites, at least on websites where you’re not welcome, and to not allow themselves to be baited on social media. I believe in meaningful debate, there’s just none to be had when the other side has no respect for you, admittedly a two-way street, and sincerely believes your rights must be trumped in order to advance society. In the second, I posed a much bigger challenge. For everyone including myself. Without calling for a boycott, I urged people to be mindful of where their money goes. Now, the hardest of all. Both to hear and do.

Although a republican vs. democrat presidential vote is not the exact point I wish to make it will serve my purposes enough. Here is a breakdown of the 2012 election. Pay particular attention to the minor counties in the bluer than blue states. In an attempt to avoid disenfranchising those I’m trying to reach or attracting those I’m not, I don’t want to say conservative or libertarian here. Simply put, if you believe in reducing the federal government to its constitutionally defined boundaries, how do you feel about living in states like Washington, California, Massachusetts, or New York?

I fully expect what I propose here to be grating to many people. The only response I can give is don’t shoot the messenger. I didn’t create this situation. I’m merely calling attention to it. This applies to all of us. This is very hard. But it must be said. I contend that if you are living in a part of the country that is firmly committed to progressivism, then you might as well stay home on election day. Worse yet, you’re diluting the effectiveness of the efforts to reverse the growth of government. This works both ways, of course. If you’re opposed to say, accessibility to firearms, why live in states like Texas or Georgia?

Everyone acknowledges that the system is broken. But the cause is an ugly truth that practically no one, apparently, wants to utter out loud. We are broken. The reason there is no civil discourse is because there is no more debate. The sides are chosen. There are those that do seem to get it, as evidenced by the state secession efforts in Colorado and California. The lawmakers in the capitol buildings roll their eyes but they aren’t reading the message the people in those areas are sending with trying to form new states. YOU DO NOT REPRESENT US OR OUR VALUES ANYMORE.

Then there are some that are noticing a “disturbing” trend out across the fruited plain. They see the political polarization is having a very real effect on many Americans’ addresses. Our schism is tearing the fabric that holds us together apart. To which I say, exactly. But here is where I disagree. Where they say that all this ugliness is causing us to separate, I think it’s actually just evidence that we are separating. And I also suggest that it isn’t the negative thing they fear it is. To say that it’s a good thing might not be correct, maybe a better word would be either necessary or inevitable. I don’t know about you but I have no intention of compromise where my values are concerned. Plus, we all know what calls for compromise and civility actually mean. Just shut up and agree with us. We are reaching a point where we share nothing that binds us. No common ground on any issue. Like a married couple that finally has enough and files under irreconcilable differences. In fact, no two words in the English language can describe the situation this country is in better. While I’m using that as an analogy…

Dear liberals/progressives/leftists/big government apologists,

There is no easy way to go about this. Suffice to say that neither of us have been happy or felt any real camaraderie with each other in a long time. Everything has been bitter arguments, ad hominem attacks, gotcha moments, and character assassinations for as long as we can remember. Little by little as time went by we steadily grew further apart until there was nothing really holding us together anymore other then our own denial. If we can be honest with ourselves we can admit that we’ve found no joy in recent memory that didn’t come from poisoning each other’s dreams, aspirations , and objectives.

The truth is we’ve grown in completely opposite directions, and those directions are not compatible. I cannot sacrifice my beliefs for the sake of a relationship that has become loveless, nor can I expect you to do the same. We’ve had some really high moments and times where we have set aside our differences for good. But now we are simply circling each other and waiting for the next blowout. Simply put, it is only going to get worse from here if we can’t admit to ourselves the truth. I want a divorce.

Whew. There, I said it. It’s out there. To anyone who might say I’m trying to stir conflict, shame on you. I’m trying to prevent it. It is my humble opinion that conflict is inevitable if we try to stay together. I will always maintain optimism for America, the nation under the Constitution. I can’t say the same for America, the patch of dirt between two oceans. I wonder sometimes in which many Americans’ commitment and loyalty lies. It is such a difficult thing to accept. Myself included. I don’t want us to split, but I fear the alternative worse. I suppose it would be too much to ask that we be adults about this.

Yes, I know virtually no one will agree. I have faith that will change in time. I also know progressives will never accept. I guess they’re a possessive and controlling spouse. I said before the progressive mentality must apply to everyone. Maybe I just want that admission.

Finally, I’m not calling any official declaration. In part one I stated that I don’t believe in announcing much of anything anymore. I just believe that liberty minded individuals should continue to filter out of the states that champion big government. Reward the municipalities that share your values with your labor, your tax dollars, and your business. If you’re a law abiding AR-15 owner, for example, wouldn’t you prefer to have neighbors you weren’t worried about voting to ban them. Over time, our voice would no longer be diluted but rather concentrated until we genuinely have to be contended with in Washington. We would have the power to finally resist the slide down into tyranny that has ran unhindered for so long.